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Brandath Family Mausoleum
The cemetery is buried in snow, and though some visitors are drawn to its scenic beauty even in winter, the blizzard keeps most of them away. The crumbling mausoleum is sealed tight, and the name BRANDATH is etched above its entrance. Large elm and birch trees grow around the structure, sheltering it as best they can with their leafless boughs. Mausoleum History The Stone of Golorr has revealed that the Vault of Dragons lies beneath the Brandath Family Mausoleum in the City of the Dead. Lord Dagult Neverember married into it for its wealth, and Lady Brandath gave birth to his son, Renaer. It's a dark irony that Neverember entrusted the location of his embezzled gold to his dead wife's family. Renaer Neverember would be horrified but not surprised to learn the truth. Areas of the Mausoleum Rooms in the mausoleum have 8-foot-high ceilings, with 6-foot-high passages and doorways connecting them. The following locations are keyed to map 4.3. M1. Ground Level Unless the text of an encounter says otherwise, the stone double door to the mausoleum is locked. The lock can be picked by a character who makes a successful DC 15 Dexterity check using thieves' tools, or the door can be forced open with a successful DC 25 Strength (Athletics) check. Inside, a family emblem is emblazoned on the floor between four ostentatious marble coffins. The coffins, engraved with the names of those interred within, contain nothing but dust and bones. M2. Underground Crypts Empty sconces adorn the walls. Cobwebs and dust indicate that no one has tended to this place in a long time. Stone coffins in alcoves contain dust and bones. Guardian Treant The largest tree growing in front of the entrance is a treant. It awakens when one or more creatures approach the entrance and growls, "Only those of Brandath blood are welcome here! Begone!" The treant is particularly surly, it being winter and all. If someone other than a Brandath descendant tries to open the mausoleum, the treant animates two nearby trees and then attacks. The treant and its animated allies are too big to enter the mausoleum. The characters can kill the treant, try to slip past it, or retreat until they learn more about the Brandath family. A day's research followed by a successful DC 10 Search check reveals that the characters know one such person: Renaer Neverember. If they ask Renaer to admit them to the Brandath Family Mausoleum, he agrees to do so. Because the treant can sense that Renaer has Brandath blood in his veins, it allows him and those he calls his friends to enter unmolested, and says to Renaer in passing, "Your mother was a lovely person.". Glyph of Warding A glyph of warding spell has been cast on the first step leading down to the underground level, set to trigger when a humanoid creature passes over the step. The glyph can't be spotted unless the dust on the floor is cleared away by a gust of wind spell or some other means. Once the dust is swept aside, a character who searches the stairs notices the glyph with a successful DC 15 Search check. If the glyph is triggered, it erupts with magical fire in a 20-foot-radius sphere centred on it. The fire spreads around corners. Each creature in the area must make a DC 15 Reflex saving throw, taking 22 (5d8) fire damage on a failed saving throw, or half as much damage on a successful one. The glyph disappears after it is triggered. Uld's Resting Place A detect magic spell reveals an aura of transmutation that emanates from one of the stone coffins on the underground level. This crypt contains the shattered bones of Uld Brandath, a Waterdavian magister who died in a freak accident decades ago. (A gargoyle broke off the corner of a government building and fell on Uld, crushing him.) Guarding his remains are six crawling claws made from the hands of murderers who were sentenced to death by Uld. These undead hands spring out and attack when the lid is lifted or shoved aside. Treasure Lying amid the bones is Uld's headband of intellect, which the characters can retrieve once the crawling claws are dealt with. Path to the Vault The collapsed eastern end of the underground level is actually an illusion that conceals an intact, 10-foot-wide passageway that slopes down. The characters can walk right through the illusion, which has no substance, and a dispel magic spell destroys it. The tunnel wends downward for several hundred feet, gradually widening to 20 feet where it ends at the doors to the Vault of Dragons. City of the Dead The City of the Dead is a public park dotted with mausoleums. The place is closed at night, with two City Guard soldiers (guards) stationed at each entry gate. A character can slip over a wall undetected with a successful DC 15 Hide check. At dusk, hundreds of driftglobes make their way from the inhabited part of the city and congregate in the City of the Dead. They spend the night here, then disperse and return to the waking city at dawn-for a reason no one knows. Sir Ambrose Everdawn (LG male human knight), an ageing servant of Kelemvor (god of the dead), patrols the cemetery from sunset to sunrise, chasing off grave robbers and making sure the dead stay buried. Characters who creep around the cemetery in the dark have a 30 percent chance of running into him. If that happens, he escorts them out and alerts the City Guard if they refuse to leave. Category:The Great Arcana Totality Category:Dawic Category:City of the Dead Category:Dragon Heist